For months, if not years, students have been complaining about the prices of food in the Student Union cafeteria. The recent renovations may have seemed like a slap in the face for students who wished the money had gone toward finding more inexpensive food items instead of dolling up an area that most people thought looked fine. Last month, however, it seemed that the administration finally heard the prayers of their loyal customer fellowship. How did they respond? The Student Union and Sodexo tag-teamed to bring coupons to all!
The coupons included a $2 discount on the daily specials from the “Food in Motion” station and a 10% discount on anything from the Salad Toss, Pizza, Grill 155 or Chicago Deli stations. While this was not the first time coupons were offered for Sodexo items at NEIU, it was the first time coupons were offered via Sodexo’s web page. On past occasions, the coupons were only offered via the NEIU Student Union’s pages on social networking sites, such as Facebook. This was also the first time, to my knowledge, that a promotional offer was extended to patrons for a full month.
If you’re like me, a college student who keeps long hours and is always on the go, a large portion of your earnings might go towards food to fuel your endeavors. Moreover, if you spend a LOT of time on campus, much of that food is purchased in the school’s cafeteria. Still, Sodexo boasted lower prices after its renovations, my wallet and I noticed no such difference. This is why I was elated when I received a notice, via NEIUport, about coupons for my beloved snack-a-torium!
The only visible setback to customers in this frenzy of savings seemed to be that the coupons went widely unnoticed. As I spent countless hours enjoying my own savings, and of course deeply enthralled in my homework for Lexicology, I couldn’t help but let my eyes creep over to the registers to see if anyone else was handing in these downloadable beauties. On a few occasions, I would notice a clipping or two being slapped upon the counter, but mostly it was the usual swipe and go of the food line.
In disbelief, I turned to my friends. Coincidentally, no one knew what I was referring to. After I filled them in they became coupon-redeeming savers as well. I couldn’t help wondering how everyone else was missing out on something that I thought was so awesome. Upon doing some research, I found my answer. Aside from the fact that no one seems to use NEIUport for anything other than accessing their school files and records, NEIUport’s link to coupons disappeared. The link to the coupons had been pushed down by news of conferences and campus pedophiles. Now no one would know of them unless they knew exactly where to look.
That was pretty unfair. With NEIU being a commuter campus, there are two types of NEIU students. There are the students who come strictly for classes and then head to work or home or just any place that isn’t school. Then, there are the students who spend eight or more hours at NEIU daily. They take classes and are involved in different clubs. Maybe they have a job on campus or hang out with friends in the SU. Either way, at some point students will come in contact with the cafeteria. When they do, it’s a pretty good bet that they will be hungry. While the coupons were an excellent gesture, it would’ve been nicer if they were posted in a more student-friendly place. The opposite side to that argument would be, “Why should students be rewarded for not using all the resources made available to them?” It is the responsibility of everyone to know what’s going on at their school. Still, at least making the coupons more public would have silenced many of the critics of the pricing in the cafeteria.